Apparatus for distilling petroleum-oils.



J. B. MOORE.

APPARATUS FOR DISTIELING PETROLEUM'OILS.

APPLICATION TILED OUT. 19, 1914. t

1,1 30,318, I, Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

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V CHGAGO, INOIS, A CORPORATION OF INDI ANA.

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To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, JOHN B. Moonn, a

' citizen of the United States, residing at Whiting, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Distilling Petroleum -Oils, of which the following is a. specification.

' used in connection with a petroleum oil still in which relatively heavy paraffin oils, such as fuel-oil or gas-oil, are distilled under a pressure of-about four atmospheres and a temperature of about 700 F. to edect their conversion into lighter oils of the same series, such as petrol or gasolene, as set forth in the patent to William M. Burton, No.

. 1,049,66L-January7, 1913. In the practice of the invention disclosed in the Burton patent referred to, I find that the lighter vapors passing from the still aremixed with heavier or unconverted oil and vapors thereof, and it is therefore desirable that a means be employed for causing a separation of the converted or lighter vapors from the unconverted or heavier vapors. It is further desirable that the unconverted oil be returned to the still for further-treatment therein. With these ends in view, I provide in combination with the still a fractionating condenser of simpleand eficient form, and so mount the condenser with relation to the still that the liquid oil-formed by the condensation of the heavier vapors'may drain or run back continuously and as it is feed to the still, there to undergo further treatment. 7

I It is to be particularly noted in'connection with my invention that the'apparatus is so constructed and arranged that the condensation of the heavier vapors and thereturn of the liquid formed thereby to the still, goes on simultaneously and continuously, a single set of passages serving for the outward flow and fractional condensation of the vapors, and the inward flow of the unconverted liquid formed by the condensation of the heavier vapors. It will further be noted that I provide means by which the capacity of the fractionating condenser m. bead- Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patentcdhiar. a, iota.

Application filed October 19, 1914}. Serial No.867,56.

justed to suit variations in running conditions and temperature changes of the atmosphere, so that the "condenser may at all times and under all conditions act to fractionate out or condense all-of the heavier vapors without causing condensation of the lighter vapors.

In order that my invention may be more readily understood, I will describe in considerable detail a particular form of apparatus embodying the invention, and which I have found in practice to operate satis-' factorily to. produce the results desired. In

this description I shall refer to the accompanying drawing which illustratesa preferred embodiment of the invention described.

In the drawing. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of apetroleum still, fractionating condenser, main condenser and distillate receiving-drum. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the by-pass by which the capacity of the fractionating condenser may be adjusted.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a furnace of ordinary construction and having the usual fire-door 2, ash-pit door 3, ash-pit l, grate 5, combustion chamber 6, outlet flue 7 and stack or chimney 8. Mounted over and forming the upper wall of the combustion chamber 6 is the horizontal cylindrical still 9, also of standard construction and provided with the usual manholes 10 by which access may be had to the interior of the still for cleaning, filling and inspecting the same.

' Leading-from the upper side of the still near the rear end thereof is the upwardlyinclined vapor-outlet-pipe 11. As shown in the drawings, this pipe at its upper end is reduced in section as by the reducing contnection 12 and communicates with a second upwardly-inclined pipe 13, which, for the.

sake of compactness of arrangement, in clines backwa'rdly to lie over the. ipesection 11. The section 13 is in turn surmounted by a third upwardly inclining section 14, and at the upper end of the latter section I provide a T-coupling 15. The upper end of the T-coupling 15 is connected, as by a nipple 16., .to a second T 17 which carries. the horizontally arranged header 18. Extending upward from this header are a number a I of relatively small pipes 19 which are in by-pass around the radiator.

turn connected at their upper ends to an upper header 20. 'llhe middle portion of the header is connected with a T-cou- .pling 21 in the vertical leg of which is mounted the outlet-pipe 22. As best shown in F ig. 2, thispipe extends down at a slight angle; to the plane of the harp-shaped radiator or condenser formed by the pipes 19, and at 'a point opposlte the T-couphng l5 it'is provided with a T 23 facing the T '15 and connected therewith by a short pipe section 24 carrying a valve 25. It will be noted that the pipe section 24L formsga,

Below the coupling 23 the outlet-pipe 22 extends downwardly and is connected to a main condenser 26, preferably mounted in a water bath 27. The condenser 26 drains at its lower end K into a connection 28 leading to the receivingdrum 29. A valved draw-oil? pipe 30 is tapped into the lower end of the receiyingdrum 29 and carries the distillate to storage tanks or reservoirs," a

The operation of the apparatus described above is as follows: The still 9 containing the heavy hydrocarbon oil which is to be treated, is maintained at a temperature of approximately 700 F. at a pressure of about four atmospheres, as set forth in the Burton patent above referred to, and under such operating conditions the heavy oils within the still undergo chemical changes by which lighter oils are formed, the vapors of the lighter oils pass out to the outlet-pipe Ill, and, as before stated, ll find that these vapors are intermixed with a certain percentage of unconverted vapors. The mixed volume of vapors passes upwardly and in succession throughfthe pipes ll, 13 audit into the radiator formed by the upper and lower header 20' of the radiator all of the heavier vapors have become condensed by contact with the relatively cool walls of the pipes.

. lit will be understood that the heavier oils in general have boiling points higherthan the lighter oils and it is therefore possible for this fractionating. methodto effectively. separate. out and condense the heavier vapors without condensing any substantial proportion of the lighter vapors. As the a heavier vapors are condensed on the walls of the pipes they how downwardly by grav= rascals ity and return to the still 9,-in which they" are again subjected to the converting action of the still. There is thus acontinuous upward flow of mixed vapors through my fractionating condenser, and a continuous downward flow of the condensed heavier fractions, these flows taking place simul taneously in the same set of passages. 'llhe lighter or converted vapors, which reach the upper header 20 of the radiator without being condensed, then pass downwardly through the pipe 22 into the condenser 26. it will be understood that this condenser is maintained at such a temperature by its water bath- 27'as to efiectively condense the lighter vapors. When so condensed this lighter distillate drains downwardly through the pipe 28 into the receiving-drum 29, from which it is led to storage reservoirs by the draw-0d pipe 30.

. The rate at which distillation, i. e., evolution of vapors within the stillL 9, goes on, varies to some extent with the length of the run; that is, at the beginning of a run with afresh chargefilling the still the distillation will proceed more rapidly than at the end of the run when practically all of the oils have been converted. The quantity of vapors passing through the outlet-pipes" which form my fractionating condenser therefore varies to an appreciable extent during the continuance of the run, and since the capacity of the fractionating condenser should be in proportion to the rate of distillation, l find it preferable to provide a means by which the capacity. of the conwit denser may be adjusted. Chang atmospheric temperatures afiord another variable 7 factor edecting the capacity of the condenser. With these two variable conditions in mind, ll provide the by-pass pipe 24 connected directly across between the vaporoutlet-pipe sectionv it and the section 22 leading 'to the water-condenser 26. Thus,

hilt-l when the distillation is procee at its maximum rate the valve 25 may o lrept closed and the whole ofthe vapors evolved must therefore traverse the full length of the system. As the rate of distillation grows less, or lower atmospheric tempera tures render such a large capacity for the hilt fractionating condenser unnecessary, ll-may open the valve 25 and thus short-circuit'or by-pass-the radiator. The vapors will then pass in a large part directly across through the bypass from the upperend of the in clined pipe section it to the watch-condenser-pipe 22. A certain proportion of the vapors will, of course, continue to trav erse the radiator, and if thisis regarded for any reason as seribusly eflecting the @filll.

ciency of the apparatus, lI -may provide posi= tive cut-old valves which willgcut out the) radiator and prevent access of vapors thereto. i

By the operation of the apparatus described above, I find it possible to effectively prevent an appreciable proportion of unconverted heavier oils reaching the water-condenser 26. The quality of the .distillate draining into the receiving-drum 29 is therefore greatly improved. The continuous nature of the process carried on by means of this apparatus is also a decided advantage. This continuous operation is rendered possible by reason of the fact that the vapor-outlet-pipes forming the fractionating condenser of the still are all inclined upwardly so that as condensation takes place the condensed liquid continuously drains back to the still. I am thereby enabled to drain the condensed liquid back by gravity and to dispense with any pressure- While I have shown and described a particular form of apparatus embodying my invention, it is to be understood that such showing and description is illustrative only, and that I do not regard my invention as limited to these specific details except in so far as I have included such limitations within the terms of the following claim, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as the prior art will permit.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination with a petroleum oil still, of an air condenser in the form of a vapor outlet pipe inclining upwardly therefrom, a header above and connected with the upper end of said pipe, upwardly ex- .tending condenser tubes in communication through said by-pass pipe, and a second con-.

denser in communication with said lastnamed vapor pipe, for the purpose set forth.

JOHN B. MOORE.

In presence of W. E. -WARWICK, WM. BURTON. I 

